This year’s Young Artist Competition (YAC), sponsored by the Fredericksburg Festival for the Performing Arts (FFPA), awarded the instrumentalist first place award to pianist, Andrew Liang, a freshman at Colonial Forge High School while soprano Jamie Hauber, a senior at Chancellor High School, was selected as the first-place vocalist. The Competition’s second place was won by pianist, Chris Yang, a junior at Massaponax High School and violinist Luke Gray, a home-schooled junior, won third place.

Thirty-eight musical students of classical instrument and voice entered the Competition in December and Auditions were held on January 12 and 13. A team of six judges selected ten performers for the Competition’s Finals Concert held on January 21st at Chancellor Baptist Church in Spotsylvania.

The Fredericksburg Festival for the Performing Arts, in partnership with the Rappahannock POPS Orchestra (RPO), encourages the development of classically-trained student musicians in Fredericksburg and the surrounding counties. Each year the Competition winners, in addition to receiving $500 awards, are invited to solo with the Rappahannock POPS Orchestra. Pianist Mark Turner and soprano Cherie Wehle will be performing with the POPS Orchestra on Saturday, March 3rd at 8 PM at Grace Church.

Kirk Wilke, conductor of the RPO, served as lead judge for this year’s Competition. All judges contribute their time to the competition and are highly-regarded musicians in the area. The vocal judges were Mandy Carr and Kevin Perry while the instrumental judges were Chris Abeel, strings, Annamarie Bollino, winds, and Martha Fickett, piano.

Winners were judged on various aspects of their musicianship, technical ability, and presentation displayed at the auditions and at the Finals concert performance. Second and third place winners were given $500 and $200 savings bonds, respectively. All winners were also invited to perform at the FFPA Chamber Festival concerts in June.

Members of the Mountain View High School Madrigals under the direction of Bonita Keene performed a delightful variety of vocal music while the judges selected the winners.

Contestants must be 18 and younger and come from Fredericksburg and the surrounding counties of Stafford, Spotsylvania, King George, Caroline, Culpeper, Orange, and Westmoreland.

Chancellor Baptist Church and music director McKenneth King have graciously hosted the YAC since its first year, providing an ideal venue along with staging assistance, practice rooms, accompaniment, and post-concert reception support. For eight consecutive years, Cornelia Bryant has graciously underwritten the expenses of the Competition while the Fredericksburg Singers, Stafford Choral Society and the Chamber Chorale of Fredericksburg have underwritten the vocal award.